


On Repeat

by The_Shy_One



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman: The Animated Series, Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Bruce Wayne, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, Echolalia, Established Relationship, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Repeat Watching, Special Interest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28523997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: Hal has some queries about why Bruce keeps rewatching The Grey Ghost.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	On Repeat

He didn’t know when Bruce first put on the old show, Grey Ghost. Maybe it started when the lead actor of it came out as having all the old tapes and that there was a company interested in distributing the show in DVD box sets and finding a suitable streaming service to pick it up. Maybe it started after a particularly hard case with Two-Face, one that had Bruce searching for comfort after being unable to help his friend once more. Or maybe, Bruce was nostalgic for the show and wanted to watch it again - he did mention to Hal that he loved it as a child. 

All Hal knew is that suddenly whenever Bruce had free time or was forced to stay home by order of Alfred, he was watching the show. Repeatedly. Restarting to the start without even breaking away to watch something else that didn’t involve the news.

It was by the third rewatch in a matter of months that Hal was observing his boyfriend. To understand what was going on. Bruce quoted along during many parts of episodes, hitting the pitch exactly as well as the timing of it without tripping up. He laughed at the same spots even knowing that the joke was coming up. Same for the having minute reactions when it came to the dramatic reveals of who committed the crimes. 

Hal didn’t say anything on the fourth rewatch or the fifth, still observing his boyfriend and how religiously he watched the Grey Ghost. It was by the sixth that he decided to raise his questions about this habit. 

“Don’t you want to watch something else Spooky?” Hal asks, being as gentle as he can. Bruce was oddly sensitive to anything that he revealed to Hal - despite not telling him that’s what he had done - and Hal didn’t want this to devolve into an argument. 

He just wanted to know, wanted to know what was going on in his boyfriend’s brain.

Bruce paused, staring at the screen for a moment. Then he pauses the episode, the Grey Ghost stopped in the middle of his investigation. He turns to Hal, face blank as he stares at him. “No, I’m fine with this.”

“This is the sixth time you’ve seen this. Wouldn’t you want something new for a bit so that this doesn’t get stale?” All Hal gets for an answer is a furrowed brow, confusion where Bruce would normally be coy to Hal. 

“It’s not?”

“You know it word for word, what would watching it again accomplish?”

“I just like it. Does there need to be a reason, Jordan?”

And he was deflecting. Not good if Bruce was doing that. Hal took a deep breath, holding it long enough to calm his brain down. Then,” I want to understand why you can rewatch this even if you know what’s going to happen.”

“It’s familiar.” Bruce starts, eyes flickering to the screen. “I like knowing the plot for every episode, it helps calm my mind when it continues to spin.”

“And it gave you a figure to trust after your parents' death?” Hal suggests. He noticed the similarities that the Grey Ghost and Batman had. It was obvious that Bruce drew on the fictional character when he started out and probably even before his parents' death.

“Yes.”

“But why so many times?”

“It’s just something that happens to people on the spectrum, repeatedly watching something that they’ve already seen.” Bruce blurts out, spilling a secret that Hal had been wondering about since this whole situation started. “I can’t even think of watching something else even if I wanted to.”

He didn’t react at first. He let the confession sink in. It made the repeated watches of the show easier to understand as well as many other things about the man. Hal didn’t know beyond the stereotypes for autism, but he knew that he couldn’t come off as a jackass to his boyfriend. 

“Do you think that I could find something similar to the Grey Ghost that we can watch together after getting through this round of the show?” He asks carefully. “So you have familiar tropes to fall back on while getting into something new?”

Bruce didn’t react for a minute. Hal waited, hoping it was the right thing to say. He could handle if it was yes or no, he didn’t want to pressure Bruce into an answer. Not when it came to stuff like this. 

Besides, the Grey Ghost had a charm that old shows with decent writing could only have. Hal was starting to get into the same rhythm as Bruce was in quoting along with it.

“Sure,” Bruce answers at last. “A new detective show would be nice.”

“That’s good Spooky. Get ready to be cultured.” Hal said teasingly. 

As he presses a kiss to Bruce’s cheek - and seeing the small smile that got - Bruce says,” I’ve seen other stuff in pop culture, Hal.”

“Nothing like the pop culture I’ve seen. Bring some taste into your life.” 

Hal smiles at the small laugh that gets, snuggling closer to his boyfriend. There were several ideas he had that he could try out. 

Maybe Bruce would like the many layers of Knives Out. Hal wouldn’t mind seeing it again . 

**Author's Note:**

> Have this since this drabble popped into my head when putting out the thought that the Grey Ghost should be canon in more stuff than BTAS since it adds flavour to why Bruce became Batman beyond his parents' death. Seeing how in the BTAS episode that featured the Grey Ghost (loved that they used Adam West for the voice of Grey Ghost, that was such a nice detail), Bruce remembers the start of the episode enough to know it connects to a current case going in on Gotham, I'm betting it was a Special Interest for him as a kid and as an adult. So it would make sense that when getting the whole series, he would get the urge to rewatch it a lot. Even if it seems unhealthy.
> 
> Since I'm on my own rewatch kick with MASH (watched all 11 seasons nearly three times in the hellish 2020) and being asked why I did it that many times by family members, I wanted to present Hal's perspective on what seems like an odd habit with Bruce. I figured he would be curious, but still wanting to give Bruce something that offers that familiar comfort of the Grey Ghost without pushing Bruce too much. Hopefully, it came off that way.
> 
> Here's to hoping it was a fun drabble to read! :D


End file.
